site.btaEuropean Commission Urges for Immediate Progress on Full EU-US Visa Reciprocity

Brussels, December 20, (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday said that it has intensified contacts with the US at political and technical level in order to achieve full visa reciprocity and called for immediate progress. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania are excluded from the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.

The number of non-reciprocity cases has been vastly reduced in the last two-and-a-half years. Most recently, full visa reciprocity was achieved with Canada after it lifted visa requirements for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens as of 1 December 2017. With similar results already achieved with Australia, Brunei and Japan, this leaves the United States as the only non-EU country in the EU's visa-free list which does not grant visa-free access to citizens of all EU Member States.

Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "The achievement of full visa reciprocity with Canada proves that our diplomatic efforts and continued engagement are bearing fruit. Together with the five concerned Member States, we will continue on this same path with the United States as well and we are determined to do everything in our power to achieve visa free travel for all EU citizens. Progress is needed immediately and we expect our US partners to work closely with us to spur progress."

The Commission is not considering the adoption of a delegated act temporarily suspending the visa waiver for U.S. citizens for the moment because it would be counterproductive, but this position can be reviewed in light of future developments.